The government had announced it, and now it’s happening: since last week, the first Frontex agents have been on duty at Zaventem airport.
The government’s goal is clear: the Minister of the Interior (Quintin, MR) and the Minister of Asylum and Migration (Van Bossuyt, N-VA) are delighted with this new collaboration. With the support of Frontex, they want to increase the number of deportations by plane.
‘Anyone staying illegally in Belgium must return to their country as quickly as possible. Thanks to Frontex’s intervention, we can speed up the pace of return operations.’
(Van Bossuyt)
The Frontex agency is the armed hand of the European Union: officially, in the words of the EU, Frontex ‘guarantees the safety and smooth functioning of external borders by ensuring security’. In reality, Frontex is a deadly agency, already responsible for the deaths of thousands of people every year at the borders of Fortress Europe.
The Belgian government constantly complains that a number of deportations ‘fail’: indeed, many people resist (to our great delight) attempts to deport them, sometimes with the support of fellow passengers on the plane. Until now, these deportations have been carried out with a police escort (often six police officers to bring the person onto the plane, then two for the duration of the flight), handcuffs and shackles (on the hands, and regularly on the feet), sometimes with a gag over the mouth and hidden at the back of the plane behind a curtain. These deportations are already moments of extreme violence for the people the state is trying to deport, both psychological and physical violence. We can only fear the worst with the new ‘collaboration’ between police officers and Frontex.
The deployment of Frontex in Belgium follows the adoption of the Frontex law in May 2024 by the political majority (at the time, Vivaldi). In April 2025, the Council of Ministers then voted on a royal decree allowing Frontex agents to operate on Belgian territory (in the presence of and in collaboration with the police).
The practical details of Frontex’s deployment in Belgium remain very vague, and it is not yet clear how it will actually work (although their presence has been announced for major transport hubs such as airports and railway stations). We expect the worst.
Together, let us remain vigilant about the extremely worrying turn that Belgian migration policy continues to take. Let us follow the laws that are passed and enforced, and closely monitor the work carried out by civil society activists (notably the Abolish Frontex collective).
Borders kill. Down with borders.
ABOLISH DETENTION CENTRES
ABOLISH BORDERS
ABOLISH FRONTEX
ABOLISH POLICE
FREEDOM FOR ALL
